Method of constructing plows and the like



Nov. 14, 1939. c, STRANDLUND 2,179.5 27

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING FLOWS AND THE LIKE Original Filed Sept. 21, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 6 0/?! G. rand?! n03 NW. 14', 1939. c. a. STRANDLUND 2179.527

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PLOWS AND THE LIKE Original Filed Sept. 21, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Cam! (I? fifiranai wnc Qy AWWJM'W o Nag;

Patented Nov. 14, 1939 UNTED STTES PATENT orric METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING PLOWS AND THE LIKE Carl G. Strandlund, Moline, 111., assignor to Deere dz Company, Moline, 111., a corporation of Illinois 8 Claims.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 41,508, filed September 21, 1935.

The present invention relates generally to plows and similar implements having tool beams, and more particularly is principally concerned with gang plows of the frameless type.

Heretofore, in the manufacture and assembly of plows, particularly of the frameless type, embodying a plurality of interconnected plow beams, it has been usual to provide a heavy face plate carrying a sufficient number of rigid brackets to receive the forward ends and the furrow opener receiving ends of the several beams. These brackets are secured in a sturdy and unyielding manner to the face plate so as to securely hold the ends of the several beams in the position with respect to each other that they are intended to occupy in the finished plow. It is necessary, particularly in plows of the frameless type, to reenforce the rear or upper curved portions of the several plow beams, by providing heavy braces between adjacent beams. The plow beams themselves are exceptionally strong and sturdy and are heat treated to secure and retain the strength required. However, in the manufacture and heat treating of the beams, slight warping or distortion is apt to occur so that while the draft and furrow opener receiving ends of the beam can be drilled to insure that the draft and. furrow opener parts will be in the proper relative position, the curved brace receiving portion of the beam will not always be in the exact or proper position relative to the associated beams. In order to accommodate these variations prior to the presentinvention, in assembling a plow it was necessary to securely bolt the draft receiving and furrow opener receiving ends of the several beams to the proper standards on the assembly face plate, and then individually fit the relatively heavy reenforcing brace members between the brace receiving portions of the two, three, or more beams to be assembled together to form the plow. To fit the braces to the beams in this manner necessitated heating, hammering and bending the braces, in some instances a number of times, before they would be brought to the exact shape and dimension to fit properly between the particular beams being assembled together. Not only was this a relatively expensive and time consuming operation, but an even more serious disadvantage occurred as a result of this practice in that, after the plow had been in use for some time, if for any reason one of theplow beams had to be replaced, either due to wear, breakage, accident, or for any reason, difficulty was experienced in fitting a new beam into the plow. This difficulty occurred because of the aforementioned inaccuracies and distortions inherent in the beams themselves, making it necessary to reheat and reform one, and frequently two, of the brace members associated with the beam to be replaced.

Recognizing that, in the first instance, cumbersome and time consuming hand fitting and, in the second instance, reheating and reforming of the brace members when a beam is to be replaced in a plow, would not be necessary if, during the manufacture of the plow, the beams could be accurately formed to a given standard so as to be interchangeable, the present invention has for its principal object the provision of a novel plow and method of constructing the same so as to insure that each plow beam is exactly like and is replaceable with respect to every other plow beam corresponding thereto in the plow without requiring any individual fitting or reheating and reforming. More specifically, the present invention contemplates the provision of a method of constructing the beams of a gang plow in such a manner that when once ready to be assembled, all points of connection of the several beams occupy, in effect, standard positions with respect to each other, which are the same positions occupied by the corresponding connection points of all other beams adapted to be disposed in a similar position in the completed plow. Thus, if any one or more of the beams of a completed plow must be replaced, all that needs to be done is to remove that beam and insert another one in its place. Since all points of connection of the new beam correspond exactly to the same points of connection on the old beam, no bending, heating, hammering or individual fitting is required.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a thickened section or bracket at one of the points of connection on the beam, preferably the point which is the most likely to be distorted out of its proper position in the heat treating and manufacture of the beam itself. According to the preferred form of the present invention, the thickened section is disposed at the point on the beam to which the reenforcing brace members are usually attached, the thickened portions providing sufficient material that parts thereof may be machined or removed to various depths, so as to bring the point of attachment of the brace means to the exact or standard relation with respect to the front or draft receiving ends and the bottom or furrow opener receiving end of the beam. Once the bracket or other means affording the removable material has been milled away to the proper degree, the plow beam is then in a condition in which it can be used to replace any other plow beam of the same kind, entirely irrespective of any distortion or inaccuracy which might have existed in the body of the plow beam itself. In other Words, removing various amounts of material from the brace receiving bracket compensates for inaccuracies and variations in the positions of that portion of the plow beam relative to the ends thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a frameless gang plow embodying beams constructed in accordance with and embodying the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates one of the beams mounted on the assembly face plate with the brace receiving brackets bolted to the plow beam and ready to be milled to bring the brace receiving surfaces into the correct and standard relation, corresponding to all other beams, with respect to the front and furrow receiving ends of the beams;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of the brace receiving brackets with the clamping half of the brace receiving socket removed; and

Figure 4 is a section taken approximately along the line 44 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that Figure 1 shows a three-bottom frameless gang plow. Each furrow opener is secured to an associated beam structure and the three plow beam structures are indicated by the reference numerals I, 2 and 3, respectively, and preferably, but not necessarily, each beam structure includes a curved plow beam, as shown, the forward ends 4 of the beams being connected together by suitable framework 5 fastened thereto by bolts 6 and receiving the propelling power from a draft frame I connected with or forming a part of the draft source, usually a tractor. As best shown in Figure 2, the forward ends of the several beams have holes 8 to receive the bolts 6 which secure the framework 5 in place. The forward end of the plow is supported upon a front furrow wheel 9 and a land wheel II], the latter including power lift mechanism, and is mounted on a swingable crank axle II. The furrow wheel 9 is journaled on a crank axle I2 whose position is controlled by landing adjusting mechanism I3, all more or less of conventional construction.

The rear end of the plow is supported upon a rear furrow wheel I5 supported in suitable rear axle frame bearing means I6 and controlled by adjusting mechanism II acting through linkage I8. The rear or downturned ends I9 (Figure 2) of the several beams have bolt holes 20 receiving the bolts or other means attaching the plow bodies or furrow openers 2I, 22 and 23, respectively, to the several beams (Figure 1). As in the usual construction, at its rear portion each plow beam curves downwardly rather sharply in connecting the horizontal portion of the plow beam and the furrow opener receiving portions I9. These curved portions of the several plow beams are connected together by a strong rigid bar 25, preferably of square cross-section as best shown in Figure 4, and the brace or bar 25 is, according to the present invention, rigidly connected with each of the plow beams by a bracket, indicated in its entirety by the reference numeral 21, the brackets thus forming the bracereceiving parts of the beam structures I, 2 and 3.

Each of the brackets 21 comprises a bolting section 28 curved to fit against the upper rear portion of the associated plow beam and provided with a plurality of bolt holes 29 to receive bolts or rivets 30 (Figure 2) by which the bracket 2'! is secured to the associated beam. The bracket 21 also includes a generally rearwardly disposed brace receiving section 33 having spaced thickened portions 34 and 35 in the form of V-shaped notches. The bracket section 33 also carries apertured portions 38 arranged to receive the clamping bolts 39 which secure a companion socket member 40 in place, the latter having portions 4| providing V-shaped notches to engage and hold the brace bar 25 in position.

The plow in which the principles of this invention have been embodied includes suitable powerlift mechanism driven from the land wheel l6 and controlling the front and rear furrow wheels 9 and I5, and the rear furrowwheel preferably is mounted by suitable means on the rear bracket 21. These features are disclosed and claimed in my copending application mentioned above, to which reference may be had. It is therefore sujficient here to note that the depth adjusting mechanism I'I comprises a lever 60 pivoted at 6! to a sector fixed to the beam 3 by bolts 65 which are also employed for securing one end of the brace 66 to the beam 3, the other end of the brace 66 being secured by bolts 67 which also secure one of the brackets 68, in which the front furrow wheel axle I2 is journaled, to the beam 2. The power lift mechanism, which is indicated at II! and is of more or less conventional construction, is adapted to swing the crank axle and the front and rear furrow wheel to raise and lower the plow into and out of its transport position. The linkage I8, mentioned above, is connected to the rear furrow wheel and includes a rod secured by a clevis BI in any one of a number of holes formed in an arm 82 welded to a lever 83, the forward end of which bears against a crank axle at the rear end of which the rear furrow wheel I5 ismounted. The lever 83 is pivotally mounted on the frame bearing means I6, and the rear end of the lever carries a roller 88 that is adapted to engage in a bracket 89 carried by or formed integral with the support for the wheel I5, which support is journaled for lateral swinging movement on the rear downwardly directed portion of the crank axle except when the rear end of the lever 83 secures the wheel I5 against castering. When the plow is in operating position the wheel I5 is held against castering.

The rear end construction just described embodies substantially the same principles as those disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 2,076,666,

to Emil F. Ohlendorf, issued April 13, 1937, and hence a further description is unnecessary.

The forward end of the rod 80 is connected by means of a short section of chain 90 to the lower end of the depth adjusting lever 60. The chain 90 passes over a roller carried by the U-shaped upper end of an arm 96 secured as by welding or the like to the crank axle II. When the power lift mechanism is actuated to swing the crank axle II and raise the plow to its transport position, the arm 96 rocks forwardly and exerts a force on the chain 90 and the rod 893 and swings the arm 82 forwardly to raise the rear end of the plow relative to the rear furrow wheel l5, assisted by a spring 91 anchored at one end to the brace 66 and at its other end to the forwardly bent portion 98 at the rear end of a link 29 which extends forwardly to the landing adjustment 13 so as to cause the front furrow wheel crank axle if to swing downwardly when the crank axle H swings downwardly.

In the manufacture and assembly of the plow, a relatively heavy face plate lfi is provided with assembly standards l5! and I52 for each beam of the completed plow. The standards and face plate serve as a jig to receive and securely hold in proper position the several beams. Figure 2 shows the intermediate beam 2 in position on the face plate Hill. When all three of the beams, assuming the completed plow to be like the one illustrated in Figure l, are secured in proper relative position on the face plate and held in that position thereby, the several brackets 21', which may be attached to the beam either before or after its mounting on the assembly base plate, are milled by a suitable tool which removes more or less material from the thickened portions 34 and 35 of the several brace receiving bracket sections. The amount of material removed in each case depends upon the amount of fore and aft or lateral distortion. if any, in the particular beam. For example, according to Figure 1, if the brace receiving part part of any one of the beams is disposed more to the rear or to the right than is usual, then more material will be removed from the brace receiving portions of the bracket than will be removed if the beam is distorted or warped to the left or forwardly. In most cases the inaccuracy of any one beam is scarcely observable with the eye, being usually in the nature of a sixteenth of an inch or less. However, whatever the distortion may be, the removal of more or less material from the bracket of each beam brings the brace receiving portion of each beam in exactly the proper position with respect to the draft receiving end and furrow opener receiving end H of the beam, these last two points being firmly attached to the assembly standards 5| and 52 and held in. proper position thereby, but without detracting from the required strength and rigidity of the bracket. Since the milling tool is also properly positioned with respect to the face plate kill, it will be seen that the V-shaped sockets on the several brackets are in proper position to receive the square brace bar 25. Usually, so as to accommodate a straight bar, the sockets of the several brackets are brought into alignment by the milling operation. as illustrated in Figure 1. While this is the preferred form, it is to be understood that other shapes of brace bars may be used, and the brackets will be formed accordinslv.

After the plow has been in use, or at any time, if it should be necessary to replace either of the beams I, 2, or 3, all that it is necessary to do is to unbolt the associated parts and insert another beam for the corresponding position in the plow. Since the replacing beam has its bracket 21 properly milled so that the brace receiving surface thereof lies in exactly the same position with respect to the brace bar 25 as the corresponding surface of the bracket on the old beam, no difficulty will be encountered in inserting the new beam; nor will it be necessary to heat, bend, or

individually fit any of the parts of the plow to accommodate the new beam.

By virtue of the present invention, the several furrow openers are firmly and rigidly held in proper position throughout the entire life of the implement and, even if one of the beams or more than one has to be replaced, such replacement will not necessitate any reforming of the parts. Instead, the new beam can be bolted into position, and when this is done and the furrow opener attached to the new beam, the furrow opener will be in exactly the proper position with respect to the other furrow openers, as was the furrow opener when attached to the original beam.

While I have shown and described above the structure in which the principles of the present invention have preferably been embodied, it is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the specific details shown and de-' scribed but that, in fact, widely different means may be employed in the practice of the broader aspects of my invention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In the construction of a plowhaving a pair of beam. structures, each including a draft receiving portion, a furrow-opener receiving portion, and a brace receiving portion, said brace receiving portions of the beam structures being adapted to be connected together by a brace member, the steps which consist in providing excess material on each brace receiving portion, clamping the draft receiving and furrow-opener receiving portions of the several beam structures in predetermined relative positions, and then removing portions of said excess material to bring the surfaces thereof into predetermined relative positions irrespective of slight variations in the shape of the beams.

2. In the construction of a plow having a pair of beams adapted to be connected together at an intermediate point by a brace member, the steps which consist in fixing a bracket to each beam, clamping the ends of the beams in predetermined relative positions, and then milling the brace receiving portions of said brackets to bring the surfaces thereof into predetermined relative positions irrespective of slight variations in the shape of the beams.

3. In the construction of a plow having a beam to three spaced points on which parts associated therewith are to be attached, the method of bringing one of said points into a predetermined standard relation with respect to the other two points, so that the plow beams are interchangeable, which comprises clamping said two points in a jig, fixing a member to the beam at said one point, and removing material from said member so as to establish said one point in the proper relation with respect to the other two.

4. In the construction of a plow having a plurality of plow beams and furrow openers rigidly connected together, the steps which comprise clamping the forward ends of the beams and the points of the beams to which the furrow openers are connected in the relative positions they are to occupy in the finished plow, fixing brace receiving brackets to intermediate points of said beams, and milling all of said brackets while said beams are held in position to form accurate brace receiving surfaces notwithstanding slight variations in the shape of the beams, whereby when the plow is assembled with the brace in position the portions of the beams receiving the furrow openers will assume their proper position.

5. In the construction of a plow comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending beams having depending portions at their rear ends adapted to have plow bottoms fixed thereto, means connecting the forward ends of said beams, and means connecting the rear ends of said beams comprising a bracket fixed to the rear end of each beam, said brackets having sockets disposed in alignment with each other, and a bar clamped to said brackets in said sockets, the steps which consist in fixing a bracket to each beam, and in then milling the clamping surfaces of the socket of the bracket of each beam to a standard shape with respect to the front ends and the depending portion of the beam, whereby the depending portions of the beams will assume like positions when theplow is assembled notwithstanding slight variations in the shape of the beams.

6. The method of constructing a plow of the frameless type having a plurality of plow beams, each having a furrow opener receiving end and a draft receiving end with a curved intermediate portion adapted to be reenforced by bracing means disposed generally transversely of the plow, which method includes the steps of providing thickened sections on the curved portion of each of said beams, clamping the draft receiving and the furrow opener receiving ends of the beams in the relative positions they are to occupy in the finished plow, slight inaccuracies and distortions in the curved portions of the beams due to previous heat treatments disposing said thickened sections in various relative positions, and forming aligned brace receiving sockets in said thickened sections while said ends of the beams are clamped as aforesaid, thereby establishing the brace receiving portion of each beam in its proper relation with respect to the draft receiving and furrow opener receiving ends of the beam, whereby the corresponding beams of each plow are interchangeable with other beams similarly formed.

7. In the construction of a plow comprising a plurality of longitudinally extending beams having depending parts at their rear ends adapted to have plow bottoms fixed thereto, means connecting the forward ends of said beams together, and means connecting the rear ends of said beams together, which comprises a bracket fixed to the rear end of each beam, said brackets having sockets disposed in alignment with each other, and a bar clamped to said brackets in said sockets, the steps which consist in fastening the front ends and the plow bottom receiving parts of the several plow beams included in the plow under construction in definite and predetermined relative positions with respect to each other, in fixing a bracket to each beam, and in then milling the clamping surfaces of the socket of the bracket of each beam to a standard shape with respect to the front ends and the plow body receiving parts of that and the other beams, whereby the depending portions of the beams will assume like positions when the plow is assembled with a bar clamped against said milled surfaces, notwithstanding slight Variations in the position of the bracket receiving portions of the several beams.

8. The method of constructing a plow of the frameless type having a plurality of plow beam structures, each having a furrow opener receiving portion and a draft receiving portion with an intermediate portion adapted to be reenforced by bracing means disposed generally transversely of the plow, which method includes the steps of providing thickened sections on the intermediate portion of each of said beam structures, clamping the draft receiving and the furrow opener receiving portions of the beam structures in the relative positions they are to occupy in the finished plow, slight inaccuracies and distortions in the beam structures disposing said thickened sections in various relative positions, and forming aligned brace receiving sockets in said thickened sections while said first mentioned portions of the beams are clamped as aforesaid, thereby establishing the brace receiving portion of each beam structure in its proper relation with respect to the draft receiving and furrow opener receiving portions, whereby the corresponding beam structures of each plow are interchangeable with other beam structures similarly formed.

CARL G. STRANDLUND.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

patent No 2,179, 527. November it, 1959.

CARL G. STRANDLUND.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page}, first column, line 55, strike out the word "part"; same page, second column, line L O, claim 1, for "beams." read beam structures.; and that the said Letters Patent shouldbe read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 19th day of December,- A. D. 1959.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) Acting Commissi oner of Patents. 

